70th Anniversary of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

Participants of the conference, National Assembly, Belgrade, October 2024 ©UNHCR/K.Nsengiyumva

To mark the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 10th anniversary of the “I Belong” campaign, the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) organized a conference titled “What We Have Achieved and What the Future Holds”. The event took place at the National Assembly and highlighted Serbia’s progress in addressing the risk of statelessness, as well as future actions to tackle this issue.

The conference noted that while tens of thousands of people in Serbia were at risk of statelessness at the beginning of the process, such cases are now considerably rare. This is achieved through the Operational Group established under the Memorandum of Understanding, which includes the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, the Protector of Citizens, UNHCR, and representatives of other ministries: the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Family Welfare and Demography, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, among others.

Serbia was commended as an example of good practice in addressing legal invisibility and eliminating the risk of statelessness. Participants emphasized that, while much progress has been made, Serbia continues to monitor the situation and ensure the protection of fundamental rights.

Key speakers included the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Jelena Žarić Kovačević, the UNHCR Representative in Serbia, Soufiane Adjali, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Ivica Dačić, Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Tomislav Žigmanov, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Jovan Janjić, Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, Acting Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Cooperation, Katarina Lalić Smajević, and the Executive Director of the NGO “Praxis”.

The conference also featured a powerful testimony from Ersen Tafa, who was registered in the birth registry during the “I Belong” campaign. Assistant UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, addressed the participants via video message.

Adopted in September 1954 in New York and ratified by the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1959, the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons remains a cornerstone in protecting the rights of stateless individuals.

UNHCR Representative in Serbia Soufiane Adjali and Minister of Interior Ivica Dačić ©UNHCR/K.Nsengiyumva

Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Assistant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ©UNHCR/K.Nsengiyumva

Minister of Interior Ivica Dačić and Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Jelena Žarić Kovačević ©UNHCR/K.Nsengiyumva

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter